Converting Photos to Paintings

We have been experimenting with software that enables us to digitally convert photographs to resemble oil paintings. Unlike a photoshop plugin, this software actually requires us to manually replicate every brush stroke. It can be very time consuming, but the results are fantastic. Below in an example of an image before the conversion:

And here is the image after conversion: Its hard to appreciate the detail of the brushstrokes in such a small web image, so here is a closeup to give you a better idea of what a final product looks like:

Something like this can also be printed on real artist's canvas, giving an even more authentic painted portrait look.